Microsoft MS Word is the program for writing job documents, dissertations, essays, articles, memoirs and so on to the computer. It is probably the first program that is used by those who approach a PC the first time and is used all over the world.
The alternatives are there, for example OpenOffice has a similar and absolutely up to par software or the Abi Word laptop however, the popularity of Microsoft Office is absolutely overwhelming.
READ ALSO: 12 special Word functions to always use when writing a document
Using Word to write a document is easy, just start from the white sheet and type on the keyboard.
Another matter is instead to write in a professional way and use the tools that this program makes available, in order to write as if it were to be published in a newspaper or to facilitate understanding for readers or, again, to create a document that is also beautiful to see and highlight the important parts.
Even for Powerpoint the discussion is similar but in another post we saw how to create professional presentations and avoid common mistakes.
Some of the basic basic functions to know when writing on the PC and to be faster and professional, are :
1) Entering an image into a document without ruining the formatting of the text.
2) Enter the page numbering in the footer and restart the numbering if there are new sections.
3) Inserting pop-ups with comments and revisions for the highlighted text within the document.
4) Integrate Internet search for selected text into documents in Word.
5) Use writing styles and text formatting so you don't get involved with paragraphs and be quick to write.
For the purposes of this article I refer to MS Word 2003 in order to support most readers, including those who use later versions for which the procedure is the same.
1) Entering images in the document wherever you like, even next to the text or in the manner of newspapers or websites.
Many people insert images into a Word document between paragraphs, since this is the easiest and easiest method to embed images in the document.
However, if you want to have images that appear inside the document as on a typical web page or magazine and have a text that flows smoothly next to the image, it is possible with a simple procedure.
If you try to do only one insert -> photo, all the text is put abruptly down and the inserted image takes the whole horizontal section of the sheet.
You should then insert a text box (Insert -> Text box) and draw it with the mouse in the space where you want to see the image.
Then press the border with the right button and choose the "Format text box". Under the "Colors and lines" tab, make sure that "Line" is set to "No Line" or "No color".
Then, in the "Layout" tab, choose "Framed" left or right depending on how you want.
Now, click with the mouse on the text box and add the image inside in a classic way and you will see how it will be placed next to the text, without upsetting its formatting.
2) Progressive or interrupted page numbering .
Entering numbers from 1 onwards is easy and I think they all know how to do it, a lesser known thing is to number different sections, starting the page numbering again.
The first step is to create page numbering in the format you want.
For example, you can insert a number in the footer that says "Page X of x" by going to View -> Header and footer (on Word 2007 you go to Insert) then click on the "Insert page number" button.
To restart the page counter, it is better to create new sections by going to "Insert -> Section break" (on Word 2007 it is in layout).
Now, returning to the menu where you enter the numbers of the footer, just go to the format and choose to "start at 1" on the page following the section put.
The result is that the counter starts all over again in the document.
3) Insert pop-ups for comments and manage revisions of a document
You can define specific text so that when the reader places the mouse cursor over that highlighted text, a pop-up appears with a comment from the author of the document.
You can do this by highlighting the text and selecting "Insert -> Comment" from the menu (Office 2007 is in the revision menu).
The way Word displays the comment differs depending on the version and depends on which page layout you use.
After creating the comment, every time the reader reads the document in normal view, the commented text appears only highlighted.
When you place the cursor over the text, a pop-up appears showing the revision or comment.
On Word 2007 you need to check the option "Show all revisions in the text" so as not to show them to the side in that ugly and confusing way but as pop ups that appear and disappear.
4) Search for selected text within Word
When reading a long document and there is a particular word or expression that seems foreign, or you want a definition, you can use the internal Word library.
All you have to do is highlight the text or phrase, right click on it and choose "Search ..."
You will be able to immediately notice an entire menu open on the right of the screen with the search for all the available options, including the thesaurus dictionary or resources, but also internet search sites.
For each of the search sites such as Live Search (now Bing), the results are displayed on the right within Microsoft Word.
If a result can be useful, you can click on the link and navigate on that website by opening the browser.
5) Quickly change and work the graphic styles of the document .
This is very useful at work in case you have a garment that changes your mind at the last minute but also for working without wasting time making colors and graphics.
The easiest way to change colors and styles to document text in no time is to use predefined styles or quick styles.
We start with the normal style and, subsequently, it is possible to set different styles so that the titles of the paragraphs, previously identical to the rest of the text, are written in a larger way, perhaps in bold.
By selecting only one piece of text, you can set a particular style to that and not to the rest of the document.
A quick style can then be edited and changed and then saved as a default and used again.
READ ALSO: How to format text well in Word documents
In another post he then explains how it is possible to import and copy text from the Internet, on Word, without formatting or neglecting bold and italics and links or different colors.
If you have any questions, let them know and if you can share other fast ways to use Word, it would be really useful.
